Berbice Capital Management LLC Invests $142,000 in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO)

Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Moody’s Co. (NYSE:MCO) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 300 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $142,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its holdings in Moody’s by 566.7% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 272.2% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 67 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Moody’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in Moody’s by 83.0% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 86 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Moody’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Moody’s news, SVP Caroline Sullivan sold 1,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $462.40, for a total value of $777,294.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $654,296. This trade represents a 54.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert Fauber sold 281 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $478.99, for a total transaction of $134,596.19. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 61,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,387,952.46. This represents a 0.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,524 shares of company stock valued at $1,178,413 over the last ninety days. 0.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Moody’s Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MCO opened at $487.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $88.30 billion, a PE ratio of 44.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.30. Moody’s Co. has a 12-month low of $360.05 and a 12-month high of $503.95. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $480.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $472.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Moody’s (NYSE:MCO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The business services provider reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Moody’s had a net margin of 29.05% and a return on equity of 57.97%. Moody’s’s revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Moody’s Co. will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on MCO shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Moody’s from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $565.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Moody’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $521.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $543.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Moody’s from $454.00 to $459.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.36.

About Moody’s

Moody’s Corporation operates as an integrated risk assessment firm worldwide. It operates in two segments, Moody’s Analytics and Moody’s Investors Services. The Moody’s Analytics segment develops a range of products and services that support the risk management activities of institutional participants in financial markets.